As you read in the last newsletter, I mentioned that prayer is a crucial part of our preparation. In training over the years we are taught there are four parts to the plan; Mitigation, Preparation, Response and Recovery.

If your mitigation and preparation are not done honestly and throughly, it goes without saying that your response efforts will be sorely lacking and your recovery will be long and difficult.

Military, law enforcement, fire and EMS agencies all train on a regular basis. This is not to just pass time but to be ready to respond on a moments notice with peak performance. If you have ever watched a unit respond in an emergency you will know the level of training by the efficiency of their response. Small and lax amounts of training equate to problems in actual incidents.

The same is true in our spiritual arena. To those in ministry, don't be fooled for a second, if you are not taking the time to study, pray and listen to those around you, it DOES show up in your sermons. The same lax attitude will also be reflected in your outlook and planning. If there is no annual plan and no projected vision for the foreseeable future, growth will be small at best, if at all. Remember, where there is no vision, the people perish.

Those in the business world know that not listening, or studying market trends, will cause even the best planning to go for naught. It is a bit more competitive than the church world (although many would argue that point) and certainly less forgiving. A few too many mistakes and lazy planning will lead to quick unemployment.

In military and law enforcement training you are taught the plan for response and then listen for the commanders instructions when to move out. As with our spiritual life, we have a plan from God and listen for His instructions when it's our time to act.

Please encourage one another in this manner and make the effort to adjust your plan where necessary. In most every instance I can remember, God never took me beyond my limitations. That is not to say I was not mightily stretched on occasions. But He was gracious to bring me along at a very steady pace.

On a slightly different but similar note. I have fantastic news to pass on to those interested. USECC has been given a golden opportunity to partner with GovSec for a fantastic offer to attend their annual training conference in Washington DC this year.

I attended my first conference in 2003 and knew it was one of the premier law enforcement conferences in the nation. Read on,

“Chaplain Steve, As a leader on the front lines of today’s security, your job has never been more challenging than it is now. GovSec, U.S. Law and Ready is an extraordinary two-day Conference and Exposition where government security, law enforcement and emergency responders connect with the private industry to learn, network and find the solutions needed to protect our nation’s critical assets.

Keynote speakers include Julie Myers, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Lauri Almann, Permanent Undersecretary of De fence, Republic of Estonia; Greg Massa, Chief, National Joint Terrorism Task Force, FBI, and Gregory Cade, Assistant Administrator, FEMA, US Fire Administration. “

My contacts at GovSec have passed on the offer to USECC that our Chaplains may come for $100. That's a $495 savings, this will also apply to a pastor referred by USECC. Call today for details and your password for registration. For conference schedules, speakers and dates see www.govsecinfo.com. I can't begin to convey how significant this is, pastors, please, give this serious consideration. .

A PARTING THOUGHT. As almost everyone knows from the news reports in the last two months, we are seeing a remarkably disturbing trend in violent shootings of innocent civilians in our schools and market place. Because of the alarmingly fast rate they happen, I do not have an exact number of those killed so far this year but with the last shootings in Northern Illinois University, and other schools it is close to 50.

This same trend unfortunately carries over into the law enforcement community as well. Earlier this month I was in Kirkwood Missouri where two officers were killed by a crazed citizen who executed them and three leaders of the city council.

Let me give you just a few facts of line of duty deaths (LODD). With the exception of 2001 and September 11, 2007 was the deadliest year since 1989. Law enforcement lost 186 officers in LODD. This is up 28% in just one year from 2006, the average age is 39. To put it in another perspective, that is almost one officer killed every other day in a years time. That's someone's spouse, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, grandson, grand daughter, colleague, and friend. They are real people.

If you are interested in assisting USECC in comforting some of these families please contact us for more specific details. If you have no other reason to pray, or if your prayer life is getting a little complacent, remember those who are First Responders. We are around you every day in your communities.